Animal Homes

Life Science - Middle School

1
/
2
Animal Homes Animals build homes for a safe place to deliver and their raise young, for shelter from bad weather and for storing food. Some animals build their homes using materials they harvest like sticks, grass or mud. Others use natural shelters like caves, hollow trees and rock piles or take over old homes abandoned by other animals. Different animals build homes in different ways, depending on their habitat, abilities and needs. Birds are diverse nest builders. Some create very complex nests, like the weaverbird (1) of Africa. While others, like the emperor penguin (2), simply lay one egg and incubate it on their feet under their belly. Forest birds build nests of grass and twigs perched on the branches of trees like the bald eagle (3). Others nest in tree holes, caves or on the top of snags or even power poles, like the osprey (4). The cowbird (5) doesn’t build nests at all, but lays their eggs in the nests of other birds, leaving them to raise their young. Insects build complex and structured nests using the materials they collect and remake into building supplies. Examples of this are mud dauber nests, honeycombs and paper wasp hives (6). Spiders (7) spin webs to catch food and build strong, cozy egg sacs for their young. Turtles (8) bury their eggs in sand nests and don’t wait around to see their young hatch. Land mammal homes vary from the giant beaver houses (9) built with an underwater entrance and food stash to simple holes dug into a bank or under a log like a hibernating bear (10). Small mammals, like prairie dogs, woodchucks and kangaroo rats (11) often dig burrows, make nests of grass and leaves or den in hollow trees or rock piles. Marine mammals, like dolphins (12), whales and seals, bear their young on rocky shores or right in the open ocean and build no homes at all. Humans build homes, of course, and live in them year round, often spending more time inside than out. 4 1 3 5 8 9 6 7 10 11 12 2
94-4039 Animals build homes for a safe place to deliver and their raise young, for shelter from bad weather and for storing __________________. Some animals build their homes using materials they harvest like sticks, _______________________ or mud. Others use natural shelters like caves, hollow _____________________ and rock piles or take over old homes abandoned by other animals. Different animals build homes in different ways, depending on their habitat, abilities and needs. ________________ are diverse nest builders. Some create very complex nests, like the weaverbird (1) of Africa. While others, like the __________________ __________________ (2), simply lay one egg and incubate it on their feet under their belly. Forest birds build nests of grass and twigs perched on the branches of trees like the __________________ __________________ (3). Others nest in tree holes, caves or on the top of snags or even power poles, like the __________________ (4). The __________________ (5) doesn’t build nests at all, but lays their eggs in the nests of other birds’, leaving them to raise their young. Insects build complex and structured nests using the materials they collect and remake into building supplies. Examples of this are mud dauber nests, honeycombs and paper wasp _________________ (6). Spiders (7) spin ____________ to catch food and build strong, cozy egg sacs for their young. Turtles (8) bury their ___________ in sand nests and don’t wait around to see their young hatch. Land mammal homes vary from the giant __________________ __________________ (9) built with an underwater entrance and food stash to simple holes dug into a bank or under a log like a hibernating __________________ (10). Small mammals, like prairie dogs, woodchucks and kangaroo rats (11) often dig __________________________, make nests of grass and leaves or den in hollow trees or rock piles. Marine mammals, like _____________________ (12), whales and seals, bear their young on rocky shores or right in the open ocean and build no homes at all. Humans build homes, of course, and live in them year round, often spending more time inside than out. 4 1 3 5 8 9 6 7 10 11 2 12 Animal Homes